Biography

California earthquake, 7.6 Richter, that focused in the Yucca Valley with Landers at the epicenter. It was the first of two in the same general southern California area that together caused close to $100 million in damages. The quake was felt throughout southern California, Nevada, Western Arizona and southern Utah and as far away as Denver, Colorado and was followed by hundreds of aftershocks.

Where some earthquakes have a rocking motion, this one seemed abrupt and erratic. Magazine coverage showed a house in Landers that was literally split in two with one side of the floor about a foot off-center from the other side; another house across the street had no damage at all. In Yucaipa, within 50 miles north, Lois Rodden described the quake; "We were awakened, son Dana and I, with heart-pounding disorientation as our beds jerked and jolted and we ran to the living room to open the front door, smashing back and forth against the walls of the hall. The power was out for five hours and there were 50-60 aftershocks that day."